


Darkness Overtaking

by ReyandKnight



Series: Dreams Return to Life [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: But there's going to be a lot of hurt, Deception, Dream Communications, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Hurt/Comfort, Hux Has No Chill, Physical Abuse, Poor Rey, Psychological Torture, Rey is a Kenobi, Snoke Being a Dick, Torture, Waterboarding, like this is some effed up shit, so much hurt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 07:57:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10715373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyandKnight/pseuds/ReyandKnight
Summary: No matter how hard Rey tries, she can't stop dreaming of Kylo Ren. No matter how hard Kylo Ren tries, he can't get her to listen to him. When she's forced into a situation she can't escape, the man she spent months shunning in her sleep becomes the only one she can run to.





	Darkness Overtaking

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of the world set up by "Refuge from the Agony." I strongly recommend reading that first as it supplies much of the world-building and is a prequel of this story.

“Rey!” a voice cried out for her.

She tried to ignore it. He had been calling out for her for over a month now, ever since she left him on Starkiller Base. She’d moved past being surprised that he survived and moved on to being annoyed by his constant presence in her dreams. Annoyed and hurt. Because of him, the first man she considered a father was gone. Because of him, she couldn’t properly say goodbye to her best friend. Because of him, the mother she’d always wanted was grieving. Because of him, her Master was still wallowing in guilt. Why won’t he leave her alone?

“Stay out of my dreams!” she snapped at him, turning to look at him, but she was floored by the pain on his face. She tried not to show concern for him, but her curiosity won out. “What’s wrong?”

Ren gasped in pain. “N-Nothing. D-don’t’ worry about me.”

“Then leave me alone! Whatever you might have meant to me before you left Master Luke, you’re no longer that person!”

“Rey-”

“No! You haven’t left me alone for a month now. I’m trying to move on with my life.”

“You won’t be able to move forward without me,” he warned.

“Watch me.”

* * *

 

Rey jolted from her sleep. She rolled her eyes at the memory of dream and stretched out her limbs. She rose from her bed to get ready for another day of training.

She had been apprehensive of travelling to Ahch-to to train under the legendary Luke Skywalker. She wasn’t even sure he would train her. He’d seemed wary when she met him, as if he’d been expecting her but still wasn’t ready to meet her. She didn’t say much, only introduced herself and told him she was sent by Leia Organa to seek his tutelage in the Force.

He seemed to agree to be her teacher easy enough, although the way he looked at her unsettled her. It was as if he knew something she didn’t. Rey shrugged it off as apprehension over taking on a new student. She couldn’t blame him. After the last student he taught, she’d almost expect him to be nervous about teaching another student, especially one he didn’t know. What happened with Ren wasn’t Luke’s fault at all, though, so it seemed unfair that he bore such a burden due to that.

He was impressed by her physical strength and endurance. That alone had prompted him lessen her physical training and start actual Force training.

Using the Force was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. She was used to everything being physical, using her body and tools to accomplish tasks and ward off unpleasant company. Relying on her mind and the energy around her, this was new. And quite frankly, just a little bit intimidating.

Using the Force on Starkiller Base felt unreal. Tricking the Stormtrooper into letting her free, pulling the lightsaber into her hand, letting the Force guide her through her fight with Kylo Ren, it was all so strange to her.

She walked out of her hut to meet Master Luke. He was standing next to the grave, his head bowed as if in prayer.

“Rey,” he greeted her as she drew closer.

“Good morning, Master.”

“I hope you slept well. We’re going to focus on meditation today, and I can’t have you nodding off on me.”

“Of course.” Years of late nights and early mornings, tumultuous weather, and warding off bandits in the dead of night taught Rey to get by with little sleep anyways.

“Good. You’ve done incredibly well in our short time together. You should feel proud of yourself, Rey.”

“Thank you, Master. I-” Rey trailed off and frowned.

Luke immediately became concerned. “Is something the matter, Rey?”

She wondered if she should come clean about her dreams. She’d tried to avoid bringing up Kylo Ren to Luke, not wanting to deliberately bring back bad memories. She’d skirted around the question when he asked her when she realized she could use the Force, saying that the experience was uncomfortable for her to recall, which it was. He told her that when she was ready to tell him, she could, that there wasn’t any rush.

She knew she was doing rather well with the Force. Not just because Luke told her every day that she was making progress, but also because Kylo Ren told her almost every night how powerful she was. It unnerved her to know end to have  _ Kylo Ren _ of all people remarking on her Force abilities, especially after he had offered to be her teacher.

Rey hesitated before replying. “N-no, nothing’s wrong, Master Luke.”

* * *

 

Luke had gone into the ocean to catch something for dinner while Rey took charge of lighting the fire. She felt like she should have been more exhausted after her training session, but Master Luke wanted to focus exclusively on meditation, which Rey had not found particularly challenging. Maybe she wasn’t doing it right.

She began to wonder if maybe she should tell Luke about her dreams. It seemed wrong to keep it from him, considering they had to do with his nephew and former student, but she didn’t even know where to begin explaining them. She didn’t know what was strangest, that she dreamt of him every night, that she could interact with him in real-time in her dreams, or that she’d been dreaming of him her entire night save the six years before she met him.

She finished setting up the kindling and lit the fire. It came to life with a quiet roar, flooding the little pit with a soft orange light. She sighed and sat back on her bench, staring into the gently growing flames. She imagined the flames growing thinner, longer, protruding from the back of an old smuggler, running down the back of a former Stormtrooper-

She gasped and shot straight up.  _ No _ , she thought,  _ he can’t hurt you now. You’re safe _ .

She stood up and paced around the fire and looked up. There would likely be a storm tonight, Luke had told her, with how dark the clouds were. She couldn’t even remember what rain storms were like, it had been so long, but she was used to the sandstorms on Jakku. She pictured the sand beating against the walls of her AT-AT, but replaced the sand with water. At least now she wouldn’t have to wait out the storm alone, wondering if she’d have enough to eat or drink.

She looked up as Master Luke stepped into the light of the fire. “Thank you for getting the fire going. I don’t know how long we have until the rain starts, so we should eat quickly.”

Rey nodded. “Of course, Master.”

She helped him put the fish he’d caught onto the spit and settled the spit over the flames. Her stomach growl, hungrier than she realized, as the fish cooked. She and Luke ate in silence, both consumed with their own thoughts.

When Luke finished, he cleared his throat and looked over at Rey. “Rey, can I ask you something?”

Rey looked up at him from her almost finished fish. “What is it?”

“Do you trust me?”

Rey winced in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“Do you trust me?” he repeated.

Rey’s brow furrowed. “Of course I do.”

“Why?”

She couldn’t understand why he was asking her this. He was her Master, wasn’t that enough? “You’re a good man, Master Luke. You saved the galaxy from the Empire.”

He smirked. “Did I, now? Is that what they say about me?”

Rey nodded that’s what I’d heard, anyways. I grew up hearing stories about how you defeated Darth Vader.”

“You do know that isn’t exactly what happened, right?”

“General Organa told me the story. She- she told me you two are his children, and that he returned to the light for you.”

A small smile took Luke’s face. “He did. I never knew my father for long. When I found out the truth, he tried to get me to join him in the Empire, and when I refused, Darth Sidious tried to turn him against me. When Darth Sidious threatened my life, almost killed me, Darth Vader turned against the Emperor and saved my life. He sacrificed himself for me.”

“But why? He hardly knew you.”

“I know. But he’d spent twenty-two years thinking his children had died with his wife.”

“How did your mother die?”

Luke’s brow furrowed. “That answer still eludes me. My first Master was there when she’d died. As soon as she gave birth, she just stopped living.”

“Were there any complications?”

Luke shook his head. “None.”

The thought of it chilled Rey. Master Luke and General Organa’s mother just…dying? For no reason? It didn’t make any sense.

“What does all of this have to do with me trusting you?” she asked.

Luke looked at her, his face serious. “I thought Darth Vader had killed my father. He ordered my sister’s home planet to be destroyed. He killed my master right in front of me. He tortured my friends. He committed atrocities all over the galaxy. But underneath it all, he was a man hurting for his wife and children. Underneath Vader’s mask, he was Anakin Skywalker, one of the greatest Jedi who’d ever lived. He was brought back to the light through his love for me. The man I grew up being taught to fear ended up saving my life. He realized his master could not deliver on what he promised. Darth Sidious only wanted my father for his power, and he was willing to discard my father when I came along.

“Rey, I want you to trust me. Senseless murder is not the Jedi way.  _ Revenge _ is not the Jedi way. Those who are capable of great good are also capable of great evil. Similarly, those who do terrible things are also capable of selfless acts of love.”

“How am I supposed to know who to trust, then?” she interrupted.

“Above all else, trust the Force. If the Force wills it, then so it shall be. The Force isn’t always going to guide us where we want to go, but It knows what is best for us.”

“So then why the question of whether I trust you?” she challenged.

“I am the one teaching you the Force. I hope your faith in me will result in a greater faith in the Force.”

The conversation died at that. Rey stared into the fire, contemplating everything Luke told her.  _ Have faith in the Force. Show mercy to your enemies. Even the most despicable of people can do good _ .

She trusted Master Luke, of course. He wasn’t exactly the man from the legends she grew up hearing, but he was kind, and he was gifted. He was an excellent teacher, and he made her feel safe and validated. She thought back to her father, the memory of his face blurred by time, how kind and loving he’d been, and her mother, gentle, playful, doting. She’ll never get to see them again.

She cast a glance at Luke as she thought,  _ maybe I’ll be okay _ . She had Luke. She had Finn. She had Chewie. She had her all her new friends at the Resistance, her week there spent, while not preparing to find Ahch-to, getting to know the pilots Poe Dameron, Jess Pava, and Snap Wexley, and the firm yet warm General Leia Organa. They’d quickly become a second family to her.

Her train of thought was derailed when the sound of thunder in the distance made her jump.

Luke stood up from his stoop. “We’d better head inside. Are you okay sleeping on your own?”

Rey thought about it. She’d spent fourteen years waiting out storms by herself, so they never bothered her anymore. But, she had company now, and she wasn’t about to waste it. For once, she could let herself be vulnerable. “Actually, would it be okay if I stayed with you? I-I’m not used to the rain and thunder.”

Luke’s eyes softened at her admission. “Of course. Let’s go in.”

She followed him inside his hut. He quickly laid out bedding for her and set up a makeshift partition to grant her privacy. She settled into her temporary bed as the rain began pelting the outside of the hut. She lay in bed, thinking over her conversation with Luke.

Vader was one of the most terrifying figures of the Empire. The stories she heard about him shook her when she was little. Yet somehow his daughter went on the lead the Rebellion, and his son not only turned him against the Emperor but also forgave Vader.

How anyone could forgive Vader was beyond her.

Still, Luke was a hero to the galaxy, and he rebuilt the Jedi Order. He taught her above all else to strive for peace.  _ Revenge is not the Jedi way _ , he’d told her.

_ A little late for that _ , she thought, remembering the gash she’d cut into Kylo Ren’s face-

Kylo Ren…

Did Luke know? Was he trying to discourage her from killing his nephew?

Luke’s compassion truly knew no bounds. She couldn’t deny that the Dark side was utterly repulsive to her. She’d faced it once, felt it pulling her to its will, but she’d rejected it. She saw what it could do to people, and she wanted no part of that. 

As she stumbled from one thought to another, her eyelids began to droop. She burrowed deeper into her blankets, letting sleep claim her as the rain pelted the hut and thunder crashed, and lightning illuminating the tempestuous night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Please be sure to let me know what you think!


End file.
